Kenyon spoils Allegheny's home opener

MEADVILLE, Pa. - Kenyon College out-gained the
Gators 439-236, and scored touchdowns on its first three
possessions, to spoil Allegheny's 2013 home opener, 37-7.

Kenyon quarterback Jake Bates went 8-for-10 for 153 yards and a
touchdown in the first half, before the Lords put together a
dominant ground game, amassing 252 rushing yards, led by Brandon
January, who went for 143 yards on 10 carries and teammate Casey
Beaudouin, who carried the ball 18 times for 72 yards.

Utilizing a two-quarterback system for the duration of the game,
the Gators saw freshman Jon
Nigro complete eight passes for 150 yards and a touchdown
in his collegiate debut, while teammate Kyle
Smith completed a pair of passes for 14 yards, while also
gaining 21 yards on the ground. The Gators' Andrew
Niklaus made four receptions for a game-high 90 yards and
a score, with teammate Lucas
Morton leading both sides with five catches, for 77
yards.

Kenyon forced the Gators to punt on the first possession of the
game, and promptly set the tone for the game, covering 88 yards in
14 plays, 12 of which were on the ground, to take a 7-0 lead on a
two-yard plunge up the middle by Blake Calcei with 6:19 left in the
first quarter.

The Lords would force another Allegheny three-and-out, taking over
on their own 35-yard line. This time, Kenyon went to the air,
as Bates completed four passes for 65 yards, capping off the drive
by taking advantage of blown pass coverage on third-and-11 with a
39-yard bomb down the sideline to Brian Hunca to go up 14-0 with
just under 30 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The Gators took over on their own 30 on the ensuing drive, and
began to find success in their running game, as Smith, Anthony
Opet, and Nick
Deichler combined for 40 yards on eight carries to
advance inside the Kenyon 30. However, a holding call would
back the Gators up to the 46, and the drive would abruptly end with
an Allegheny fumble. On the next play, Bates would complete a
52-yard pass to Jibri McLean, setting up first-and-goal just inside
the three. The Gator defense held strong on three run
attempts, forcing a fourth-and-goal, but the Lords would keep their
offense on the field, and Calcei would take a direct snap up the
middle and into the end zone for the Lords' third score of the
day. The two-point run attempt was good, putting the Lords in
front 22-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.

The teams then traded scoreless possessions, and the Gators took
over on their own 38 with just under seven minutes left in the
quarter. Smith opened the drive with a 17-yard completion to
Niklaus, setting up a first down on the Kenyon 45. Kenyon
would then commit costly penalties on subsequent plays, with a pass
interference on an incompletion followed by an unsportsmanlike
conduct, giving the Gators first down nine yards from pay
dirt. However, Allegheny was unable to take
advantage of the Kenyon infractions, as the drive would end with a
missed 26-yard field goal.

The Gators forced Kenyon to punt on the final drive of the half,
but the Lords went into the intermission with all of the momentum,
out-gaining the Gators 245-90, and holding the ball for just under
17 minutes.

Nigro completed three consecutive passes to Morton for 34 yards to
begin the third quarter for the Gators, and the hosts would
eventually advance the ball inside the Kenyon 20 after four keepers
from Smith. Again, Allegheny could not capitalize on the
drive, as a jump ball in the end zone was picked off by Kye Duren
on third down. On the ensuing play, January appeared to be
stopped behind the line of scrimmage by a host of defenders, but
emerged from the pile and scampered 80 yards down the far sideline
for the touchdown. The Lords again converted on the two-point
try, going in front 30-0.

The Gator offense would then use a little bit of luck to post its
first score of the new season. With the ball just outside
midfield, Nigro rolled to his right on play action, lofting a pass
down the near sideline. It was tipped by a Kenyon cornerback,
but picked out of the air by Niklaus, who would scamper into the
end zone untouched for the 52-yard score.

Kenyon would go back to the ground on its next drive, covering 48
yards on seven plays, before backup quarterback Max Boyd closed out
the day's scoring by completing a screen pass out of the backfield
to Beaudouin for a 12-yard score with just over a minute left in
the third quarter.

Allegheny began the fourth quarter driving, using a 25-yard pass
from Nigro to Morton, a five-yard run from Smith, and a nine-yard
pass to Niklaus to advance to the Lords' 20 yard line. Nigro
then went to the end zone, but another jump ball was picked off to
end the scoring threat.

It would be the final scoring chance for either team, as neither
squad would muster much offense over the contest's final 10
minutes, sending Kenyon to the opening-day victory.

Despite being outgained by such a wide margin, the Gators ended
the game with slight advantages in first downs (17 to 16) and time
of possession (30:17 to 29:43). However, the Gators were done
in by the two interceptions, and Kenyon was a perfect 3-for-3 in
the red zone, compared to an 0-for-3 performance by the Gators.

Defensively, Cody Stolar made six tackles, while also breaking up
a pass, to lead the Gators. Sam
Flowers, Jake Szozsorek, and Trevor
Colvin each made five tackles.. Te Lords were led
on the defensive front by Sullivan, who added nine stops, and 3.5
TFL's, to his two-point conversion run.

Allegheny will return to action next week, traveling to Pittsburgh
to take on perennial non-conference rival Carnegie Mellon on
Saturday, September 14th at 1:00 p.m.